


Let Me Know

by ReaderJane



Category: Stephanie Plum - Evanovich
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-03-29
Updated: 2004-03-29
Packaged: 2017-10-06 07:46:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReaderJane/pseuds/ReaderJane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ranger and Stephanie talk about life and fitness while on stakeout.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let Me Know

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: it's all Janet's

It was hot inside the Bronco, and I squirmed in the passenger seat. Sitting in the darkness beside me, Ranger looked as cool as a panther waiting in some jungle tree for his prey to pass by. The sultry August night ensured that everyone who had air conditioning was indoors. Sweat trickled down the back of my neck. The Bronco had air conditioning, but it was turned off. A parked car idling for hours on Stark Street would be too noticeable.

I was helping Ranger with a surveillance job. Harvey Whitehead had been charged in the armed robbery of a convenience store. My cousin Vinnie, who owned Vincent Plum Bail Bonds and employed both Ranger and me, had bailed Harvey out. Since Harvey had a history of violence, when he failed to appear for his court date Vinnie had assigned Ranger to bring him in. That was fine with me. We had been waiting in the car for two hours, hoping Harvey would visit his favorite bar. It was a pretty good bet. Harvey wasn't bright enough to avoid his usual haunts. He relied on fast footwork and a switchblade to stay ahead of pursuit.

The heat was only one reason for my discomfort. I've never been good at waiting, and a long sweaty wait was the perfect end to a miserable day. Delores Grint, a hairdresser charged with writing bad checks, had objected to my interrupting her work day to bring her back into the system. Said she couldn't afford to take time off work to meet her court date if she was going to pay all those bank fees. When I insisted she came after me with her shears and took a huge chunk of hair off the side of my head. Good thing I already had my stun gun in my hand. I zapped her, cuffed her and dragged her to my car. After dropping Delores at the police station and collecting my body receipt I had paid an emergency visit to Mr. Alexander to have my hair trimmed.

Now I had the shortest hairstyle I've ever had in my life. There was barely enough hair left to tell it was curly. When I finally got home to Joe's house feeling tired, hungry and very unattractive, he told me I should get another job. What if Delores had missed my hair and sliced my neck? Joe said he didn't want to worry about my safety every day. I knew he was saying it because he cared about me, but on top of everything else, it was just too much.

I had thrown my things in a box, stormed out of the house… and realized I had nowhere to go. My sister Valerie was still living in my apartment with her three daughters and her fiancé. It was back to my parents' house or sleep in my car. Frankly, the car didn't look so bad. If only it had a bathroom.

I had decided to keep the car option in reserve and hauled my box of belongings home. Home is where, when you go there, they have to take you in. My mother always had plenty of food to spare, and more important, plenty of dessert. I indulged in calorie therapy. Way too many calories.

Now I was slouched on the Bronco's leather seat, trying to take some pressure off my waistband. My jeans were painfully tight. Normally I would have discretely unbuttoned them, but I was wearing a black t-shirt tucked in, so it would have been obvious. And I wasn't about to admit to the god of fitness that I couldn't fit into my Levis.  
I twisted, looking for a more comfortable position under the guise of scanning the street. Ranger broke his silence.

"Go ahead, Babe."

I looked at him. "What?" He smiled, keeping his eyes on the opposite side of the street.

"Go ahead and pop the button. You've been sucking your stomach in for the last half hour."

I narrowed my eyes. "Excuse me?"

"What was it, too much pizza?" Actually it had been that third piece of pineapple upside-down cake, but I wasn't going to tell him that. "You should work out more. Then you could eat what you want and still catch the bad guys."

A haze of red started to cloud the edges of my vision. "Are you calling me fat?" I asked through clenched teeth.  
Before I could move, Ranger had me pinned against my seat. His chest was against mine, his face was this close, and his hand was spread across my hip with his thumb just under the edge of my waistband. I froze.

"I like the way your jeans fit," he said, his voice so low I wouldn't have heard it if we were any farther apart. I could feel his breath against my mouth. It smelled like heaven.

Ranger returned to his own seat while I concentrated on breathing. "If you don't like the way they fit," he continued in a normal voice, "you should do something about it."

I groaned. "Like what? Buy new jeans?"

He chuckled. "Babe, you know how to get in shape. Eat healthier. Eat," he paused to gauge my reaction, "a little less. Exercise more."

"I hate exercise," I replied hotly. "It's boring, and tedious, and… humiliating. I get all red and blotchy and I sweat. And I hate sweating!" I swiped at the sweat trickling behind my ears. Only part of it was from the humid weather. "And I can't stay on a diet to save my life," I admitted. "The longest I've ever managed was two weeks. One week I had the flu." I groaned again and popped the stupid button. No point in pretending now.

Ranger looked over his shoulder, scanning the alley on the other side of the street. "You're doing it wrong," he said.

"What do you mean?" I felt cranky.

"You don't give up a habit you enjoy by white-knuckling it. You replace it with something else. Something you want more."

I laughed bitterly. "And what could possibly take the place of pineapple upside-down cake?" I asked. I squinted through the windshield toward the lights of a gas station. Still no Harvey. I wanted to take my full stomach home and go to sleep. Ranger wasn't answering, so I looked at him.

He was looking at me with dark eyes and a slight quirk at the corner of his mouth. I replayed our last words in my mind. Something I want more? What did I want more than pineapple upside-down cake? My jaw fell open.

"Are you suggesting," I began. I closed my mouth and swallowed. If possible, the air in the Bronco felt even closer than before. "Are you saying I should have sex instead of dessert?"

Ranger raised one eyebrow.

"That's a lot of sex," I said.

The quirk on his lips turned into a wolf grin. My eyes glazed over as I thought about it. "Would that count for the exercise too?" I asked.

His booming laugh filled the car. "It's aerobic, Babe, but I don't think it'll replace running." Suddenly he sobered and his eyes locked on a figure on the sidewalk. The panther spotting his prey. "That's our skip," he said.

I was out the door before I had time to think. Finally we could catch this miserable weasel and I could go home. Harvey looked over his shoulder when he heard my door close. I must have looked threatening, because his eyes widened and he took off running.

"Stop!" I yelled. I chased him down the street. He was pulling farther away, and I was getting a stitch in my side.

Harvey looked over his shoulder again. He smirked when he saw me slowing down. "You can't catch me, fatso!" he jeered.

I saw red and put on a burst of speed. Alarmed, Harvey turned away. He tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. I was on top of him before he could bounce to his feet. He twisted underneath me, reaching for his ankle. I heard the snick of a knife.

A strong hand grabbed Harvey's wrist and lifted him in the air, dumping me off in the process. Harvey dangled from Ranger's grasp. Ranger gave him a sharp shake and the knife clattered to the ground. I climbed to my feet.

"I will not," I panted, "be called fatso," I reached into my back pocket, "by a zit." Ranger let go of Harvey a split second before I zapped him. Harvey crumpled into a heap on the ground.

Ranger grinned at me. "Way to go, Tiger," he said.

I stood there catching my breath. "Do you think I should get another job?" I asked him.

"And miss all this fun?" he answered. He cuffed Harvey and patted him down for more weapons. "Take his feet," he said. Together we lugged Harvey back to the Bronco and stuffed him in the back seat.

"Drop you off at Morelli's?" Ranger asked.

"My parents' house," I answered. He raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.

When we pulled up, Harvey was still out on the back seat. The porch light came on. I groaned. Thirty-two years old and my mother was still waiting up for me. I sucked in my stomach and buttoned my jeans so she wouldn't ask why my clothing was undone. "I've got to lose weight," I muttered.

"You want help with your diet, let me know," Ranger said as I climbed out of the car. I rolled my eyes. I was about to shut the door when something occurred to me. I turned to look at him.

"Ranger, what do you do," I began. He looked at me, expressionless. "When you're trying to give up a habit. What do you replace it with?"

For a minute I thought he wouldn't answer me. Finally he spoke.

"Some things are irreplaceable," he said. He reached over, pulled the door shut and drove away.

It was a long time before I got to sleep.


End file.
